Daddy Says
by Ntozake Shange

"Do you really think she rides with us, Lucie? I mean, when we want to win so bad we can taste it in the back of our mouths and our throats go dry? Is Mama watchin’ over us when it’s our turn at the gate?"
Annie Sharon and Lucie-Marie, daughters of two African-American rodeo stars, have been raised by their loving but remote father, Tie-Down, since their mother, Twanda, was killed by an out-of-control horse. The girls feel their mother’s absence terribly, especially now that they are beginning to get older, but Tie-Down misses her too much to talk about her. Now Tie-Down has started dating Cassie, and the girls resent her intrusion into their lives. But after a close call at the rodeo, it is Cassie who finally brings this family together.